What Used To Be Mine

I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with our first child. I was so excited! I had always wanted to be a mother. I really didn't see myself doing anything else. I remember wanting to go shopping the very minute I found out. I wanted to get the perfect room together and be very prepared. I wanted to teach him all these wonderful things, and take walks together and sit in a room with a breeze blowing through and just watch him sleep.

I also remember with the second child being very excited to learn I was now going to have my girl. I could do her hair, and share with her my love of dolls, care bears, strawberry shortcake dolls and all the other wonderful things I remember playing with as a little girl.

I was going to share everything with my children.....then they were born.

NOTHING in my house is off limits to them anymore. My drawers have now become a jumble of messed up papers. I used to have necklaces that hung nicely on a peg, or lay nicely in a jewlery box, and now I have chains with knots and drool. My pens have teeth marks, and erasers are bitten off on all my pencils. I can no longer keep nice things at an arms reach and every picture frame in the house has some sort of cookie crusted smudge on it.

I love these children of mine, and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world....but I do recall those days not so long ago when my shirts were drool free and I didn't consider a diaper bag to be my "nice purse".